Those who drink at least 3 cups daily have 50% lower all-cause mortality

(HealthDay News) — Drinking three or more cups of coffee per day halves all-cause mortality risk in patients co-infected with HIV/hepatitis C virus (HCV), according to a study published online Sept. 21 in the Journal of Hepatology.

Maria Patrizia Carrieri, from Aix Marseille University in France, and colleagues used data (both medical and psychosocial/behavioral) from a prospective cohort of patients co-infected with HIV/HCV to assess the effect of elevated coffee consumption (at least three cups per day) at baseline on all-cause mortality over a five-year follow-up period.

The researchers found that 77 deaths occurred over the study period among 1,028 patients (mortality rate 1.64/100 person-years). HCV-related diseases (n = 33), cancers unrelated to AIDS/HCV (n = 9), and AIDS (n = 8) were the leading causes of death. At the first available visit, 26.6 percent of patients reported elevated coffee consumption. After adjustment for gender and psychosocial, behavioral, and clinical factors, elevated coffee consumption at baseline was associated with a 50 percent reduced risk of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio, 0.5).